{"id":23794,"date":"2016-09-07T14:44:58","date_gmt":"2016-09-07T21:44:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=23794"},"modified":"2016-09-07T14:44:58","modified_gmt":"2016-09-07T21:44:58","slug":"the-clinton-foundation-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2016\/09\/07\/the-clinton-foundation-scandal\/","title":{"rendered":"The Clinton Foundation Scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is a story that has gotten far too little media attention, except for MSNBC, regarding an "unproven" but still obvious example of quid pro quo<\/em>, between a presidential candidate’s foundation and an elected official.  The Clinton Foundation scandal lacks any concrete examples of favors done for anyone who donated to the foundation, but the media keeps going back to it.  On the other hand,  the virtually ignored Trump Foundation scandal has a conspicuous quid<\/em> pro<\/em> quo<\/em>.<\/font><\/p>\n

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\"0907trump-bondi\"In light of the suspicions hanging over Donald Trump and Pam Bondi, the Florida attorney general, this opening quote from her Republican National Convention speech is particularly rich. \u201cNov. 8 is a day of reckoning for all those who have abused their power,\u201d she said. \u201cWinning this election means reclaiming something to which I\u2019ve dedicated my entire career: the rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n

While it hasn\u2019t been proved that Mr. Trump or Ms. Bondi violated bribery law, there\u2019s little doubt that they abused the public trust in 2013<\/strong>, when Ms. Bondi received a $25,000 campaign contribution from Mr. Trump four days after her office announced that Florida was \u201creviewing the allegations\u201d in a lawsuit filed in New York against his Trump University<\/strong>. Attorneys general in New York and California are pursuing separate class-action suits alleging that Trump University bilked consumers of tens of thousands of dollars they each paid for a worthless real-estate investment course. In the end, Ms. Bondi\u2019s office did not take any action against Trump University<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump\u2019s contribution from his family foundation to Ms. Bondi violated federal tax law barring tax-exempt charities from engaging in political activity. The Washington Post<\/a> reported last week that Mr. Trump paid a $2,500 penalty to the Internal Revenue Service for the violation…<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

From <NY Times<\/a>><\/font><\/p>\n

Both Lawrence O’Donnell<\/a> and Rachel Maddow<\/a> covered this last night.<\/font><\/p>\n